2019-2020 SUNY - Downstate

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Medschoolbelle said:
I am freaking out I got a big scholarship for the first year somewhere else and I am worried downstate will accept me but won't match $$$ idk if I should just jump out of excitement or fear or both.
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Omg!!! Congratulations!!!!

I unfortunately agree with the above post, doubt Downstate will match. Someone from last cycle even emailed them to ask and they said they could not match :/
 
techytechy said:
Omg!!! Congratulations!!!!

I unfortunately agree with the above post, doubt Downstate will match. Someone from last cycle even emailed them to ask and they said they could not match :/

THANK you.
Oh boy this is going to be a wild ride
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techytechy said:
I’m sorry 🙁 . i hope you have at least an acceptance to another school. I also had a mid-Jan interview and also sent a LOI around end of March. I too got a confirmation email that said “Thank you for your continued interest in SUNY Downstate College of Medicine”

On April 30th, many students with multiple acceptances will need to narrow it down to only one(multiple school deadline and plan to enroll deadline ). April 30th is also the first day students can commit to enroll. This means that these students will be removed from any waitlists/under consideration and their acceptances will be rescinded from all other schools besides the schools they commited to.

This means two things for us hopefuls:

1) Students who have already been accepted to DS and other schools can drop their acceptance and plan to enroll/commit to enroll to another school. This will make seats available
2) Students who have yet to hear from DS but have gotten acceptances to their other top choices can commit to enroll to said top choice and their application will be automatically withdrawn from Downstate, thus reducing the size of the alternative list.

So be patient and wait for april30th/may1st and may the odds be in our favor !!!
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I really really appreciate this feedback. i've read some info before but you've made it extra clear for me regarding DS, so thanks again. I know we are all struggling, nice to know we're both in a very similar boat. Sad thing is I actually don't have any other acceptances, I am literally waiting for DS, it's all I have left other than being waitlisted for two schools, but those don't look promising either haha. I'm just hoping for the best from DS, it's always been my number one.
 
Congrats to everyone who got accepted. We are in the final stretch guys!

For people who have been accepted for a while and have done the whole financial aid processes. What does their financial aid package look like normally? And if any of you got scholarships was it sizable?
 
golgibrain said:
Is the notorious movement day on April 30 or after it?
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Most likely we will see news on May 1st/May 4th as they will probably assess their empty spots as people narrow their selections down. Or, there may be an automatic system where if a seat opens up, acceptances will be automatically sent to a pre-made list on April 30 itself.
 
golgibrain said:
Is the notorious movement day on April 30 or after it?
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Some action could be seen on April 30th, though I definitely expect some releases on May 1st, then movement will continue for about a week as other schools offer acceptances and more people begin withdrawing from Downstate, then it'll begin to trickle down.
 
If I haven’t heard anything at all by this point, it’s not a good sign right?
 
Can any current students speak to what it's like commuting using the bus? I'm thinking about the Williamsburg area and would be taking the bus late at night fairly often I'm assuming.
 
StevenBruleMD said:
Can any current students speak to what it's like commuting using the bus? I'm thinking about the Williamsburg area and would be taking the bus late at night fairly often I'm assuming.
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Not a current student, but just in case no one responds, I've taken the B44 in that area (I assume that's the bus you'd be taking) before and it's pretty quick and painless. It definitely has been crowded the couple times I've taken it, though, if that matters to you.
 
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4everrunning said:
Interviewed in Jan and haven't hear back. Just got some new progress on my research activities. Is it still worth sending a letter of update/LOI at this time..?
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You can of course always send an update/LOI. I am sure the committee has already made decisions on all applicants at this point. If you wanna send it now, go for it. If you don’t send one and then find out you were placed on the alt. list you can send it then.
 
techytechy said:
You can of course always send an update/LOI. I am sure the committee has already made decisions on all applicants at this point. If you wanna send it now, go for it. If you don’t send one and then find out you were placed on the alt. list you can send it then.
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Thank you! Does anyone know if Downstate ranks the alt.list and send out later offers automatically when ppl withdraw or ?
 
4everrunning said:
Thank you! Does anyone know if Downstate ranks the alt.list and send out later offers automatically when ppl withdraw or ?
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From what I know of last year’s cycle, some people were placed on Alt. Lists a week before they heard back and some were placed 1 month before getting the A(the latter was placed on the alt. list weeks before the former)
 
AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson said:
Not a current student, but just in case no one responds, I've taken the B44 in that area (I assume that's the bus you'd be taking) before and it's pretty quick and painless. It definitely has been crowded the couple times I've taken it, though, if that matters to you.
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Yes, it would be the B44. I'm more asking about the safety of it late at night if you can speak to that, thank you!!
 
techytechy said:
Does this mean you’re committing?
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Not yet, just thinking about housing options if I do! I'm between living with friends in lower Manhattan, Williamsburg, or living on campus at the moment if I do end up at Downstate. Each has its pros and cons in my mind so I'm just trying to get any and all opinions.

But I'm still waiting to hear back from another school in NYC and would have a difficult decision on my hands if I do get the A!
 
StevenBruleMD said:
Not yet, just thinking about housing options if I do! I'm between living with friends in lower Manhattan, Williamsburg, or living on campus at the moment if I do end up at Downstate. Each has its pros and cons in my mind so I'm just trying to get any and all opinions.

But I'm still waiting to hear back from another school in NYC and would have a difficult decision on my hands if I do get the A!
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From what I can see you definitely get more bang for your buck living off-campus, so living with friends is definitely a great option, and both those areas you listed have a nice nightlife and just nice places to walk around if that's your thing.

I hope you get the option to choose between schools! It's nice having that option for sure. If your choice is between the school I think you're talking about, it's essentially an entirely different area of NYC you'll have easy access to, so definitely take that into consideration!
 
techytechy said:
Also, out of curiosity, how are accepted students looking for apartments/roommates? From what I know there is still not a verified page for accepted students.
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Definitely trying to get that living situation taken care of
 
StevenBruleMD said:
Can any current students speak to what it's like commuting using the bus? I'm thinking about the Williamsburg area and would be taking the bus late at night fairly often I'm assuming.
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I know a few people who take the bus to commute even late at night during exam time and have never mentioned a problem
 
techytechy said:
Also, out of curiosity, how are accepted students looking for apartments/roommates? From what I know there is still not a verified page for accepted students.
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xSlayuhh said:
Definitely trying to get that living situation taken care of
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As eager as you may be, almost all of you will find your roommates in mid May after most of the class has been accepted and added to the FB page.
 
I'm a graduating student. You can get $600-900/month rent around Downstate (if you have roommates and the rooms will probably be small because it's NYC). You can find cheaper rooms on the Downstate Marketplace facebook page around May when people start to move out

I had to pay for everything in loans. The cost was $280K if I didn't do a competitive specialty. Away rotations, having to over-interview, and travel a lot more for interviews brought that cost to $300K. I spent a lot of money going out during pre-clinicals and did some international trips.

I had a lot of research, almost all of which was done at Downstate without a research year. You can do a lot of research, but you have to put in the leg work. I believe 30/32 who applied to a competitive field matched. Out of the 30, I think the 4 derm and 2-3 of the other matches did a research year. About 11/30 were AOA. People were successful and happy matching non-competitive fields as well. There are too many people for me to talk about those matches and I know most of you worry about the competitive fields anyways. You aren't limiting yourself by coming to Downstate.

Best part about Downstate are the students. We're down to earth and there are always people down to go out. I also like our shortened preclinicals so you have extra time to do subis and decide your specialty. You also have a lot of autonomy as a med student.

The worst part is inefficiency. It comes with the territory of a low-income hospital system. You have to push to get things done on the inpatient floor; you have to sometimes push to get admin stuff done. Our 4th year also has too many requirements. It is small in the grand scheme, but a hassle anyways (you have plenty of time to take interview season off/end early though).
 
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CirclingtheDrain said:
I'm a graduating student. You can get $600-900/month rent around Downstate (if you have roommates and the rooms will probably be small because it's NYC). You can find cheaper rooms on the Downstate Marketplace facebook page around May when people start to move out

I had to pay for everything in loans. The cost was $280K if I didn't do a competitive specialty. Away rotations, having to over-interview, and travel a lot more for interviews brought that cost to $300K. I spent a lot of money going out during pre-clinicals and did some international trips.

I matched within my top 3 ranks in a competitive specialty. I had a lot of research, almost all of which was done at Downstate without a research year. You can do a lot of research, but you have to put in the leg work.

I believe 30/32 who applied to a competitive field matched. Out of the 30, I think the 4 derm and 2-3 of the other matches did a research year. About 11/30 were AOA. People were successful and happy matching non-competitive fields as well. There are too many people for me to talk about those matches and I know most of you worry about the competitive fields anyways. You aren't limiting yourself by coming to Downstate.

Best part about Downstate are the students. We're down to earth and there are always people down to go out. I also like our shortened preclinicals so you have extra time to do subis and decide your specialty. You also have a lot of autonomy as a med student.

The worst part is inefficiency. It comes with the territory of a low-income hospital system. You have to push to get things done on the inpatient floor; you have to sometimes push to get admin stuff done. Our 4th year also has too many requirements. It is small in the grand scheme, but a hassle anyways (you have plenty of time to take interview season off/end early though).
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Do you know of anyone who was able to find a scholarship? Is there any type of financial support available? What other things besides research can you do to up your CV?
 
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